Guardians: The Last Elder

Chapter 9: Ava makes a friend

Sighing, I knocked on the door loudly. I heard a muffled 'come in', so I stepped inside, the door gliding open smoothly.

Inside, giant bookshelves with tomes of volumes from top to bottom covered the walls. One of the walls, however, had long windows and a door that led out to a balcony. The floor was a mosaic and the ceiling above had brass pendants hanging, bathing the room in a dim cryptic light. At the center was a big oak table, behind which sat Mr Blackwell, his eyes behind his square glasses scanning some sort of document. I saw another lady waiting, her back to me. She had long, wavy golden hair that almost seemed to shine under the light. She was holding the hand of another girl, a few years smaller than me, with the same golden hair, probably her daughter.

Mr Blackwell looked up and smiled at me. "Ah, Ava, come come. Please sit. I'll come to you in a minute."

I nodded and sat down on one of the couches, my eyes roaming over the books greedily. I heard Mr Blackwell say, "Mrs Glorfield, we'll be glad to take in your ward under our guidance. I understand that because of her ill health, she didn't get to enroll at the start of the year but no worries. She can start from tomorrow itself. I'm sure she's incredibly talented..."

I tuned out the rest of his words. However, I stood up when I realized that they were about to leave. I barely held in a startled gasp when the lady and the daughter turned. Their skin was deathly pale with a blue sheen to it and their eyes...their eyes were a bright unnatural green with no irises. Their ears were pointy as well. But, yet, they were dressed in normal clothes and the girl was whispering excitedly to her mom in a language I couldn't understand.

I rushed to Mr Blackwell's table as soon as they left. "Those two...they were demons!" I cried.

Mr Blackwell looked startled for a second but then he laughed. "Oh no, dear child. They're elves."

I sagged in relief as I sat down in front of him. "But they don't look anything like Kace."

"That's because they're a different clan. There are quite a few of them. Besides, Kace has Guardian blood too."

"Does it happen often?" I asked, genuinely curious. "You know, interspecies..." I fumbled for the right for a second. "Breeding?" I finally asked.

Mr Blackwell looked amused. "Why, yes. In fact, there are few purebloods here. Almost all have some sort of fairy, elf, warlock or even dwarfs heritage."

"Dwarfs? Wow, what else creatures are in here?" I asked with wonder.

"Too many to name. But, I'm afraid; you won't find many dwarfs here, at least not on the surface. As you might have noticed, it's almost always sunny here. It rains of course but winters are almost non-existent. And dwarfs aren't very affectionate towards sunlight. They prefer it on their own world. The few those are here live underground. They've settled mostly for business. Handy craftsmen, all of them and easily bribed by gold."

"Wow," I said again, fascinated. "What about you though? Vanessa told me you were a warlock!"

"That I am."

"Awesome! If you don't mind my asking, how exactly old are you?"

Mr Blackwell looked thoughtful. "Hmm. I fear that I don't know the exact number. It's hard to keep count after a while. Let's just say I've been here for a long, long time. I was here during Robespierre reign of terror or when Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. I remember the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Oh, let's not forget about the golden age of The Renaissance and--," he stopped when he saw my horrified look.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Ava, dear, I don't kid," he said in an authorative voice but his grey eyes were twinkling. "Anyways, I was thinking, I'd take this time to tell you a little about our own history. It's going to take a while, we'll probably not finish all of it one day but you need to start learning, especially since you'll be expected to give the annual test of history and demonology with the rest of the students."

"Wait...I'll have to give exams?"

"Of course. Don't worry though, theory exams aren't taken seriously. We like to focus more on the physical aspects like Combat and Self-Defense, skills that you'll actually require when you're out there. I take history classes, so I'll make sure you pass---"

"You'll do that?"

"Only for this semester and that's because you're new, not only to the exams but to this entire world," he said as I exhaled in relief. Abruptly, he stood up, his cane in his hand and he walked over to the rows of bookshelves. He searched for a few seconds and then, having found the required books, he made as if to grab it. Except he didn't really. He made a jerking motion with his hand and two books went flying from their position and dropped down in the desk, right in front of me. A few other books came somersaulting and lied down on top of the other books. I stared, not sure if I was surprised or not.

"Take these books with you. Try to study them. I'll help out if you need me. You'll find out a lot about the history of the Guardians."

"Right. Thank you. I was wondering if we could talk a little? I mean, I'm sure we can start the classes soon but...I just, I still had a few things to ask you."

"Right, right, of course!" Mr Blackwell said as he sat back down, looking a little sheepish. "Pardon me; I tend to get carried away. In fact, I didn't call you here to converse about course books either. I did have a few things to talk with you. I, uhm...how are you, Ava?" His eyes were gentle and his voice reflected that. Even though his words were simple, I knew he was asking more than just how was my day. I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat and said honestly, "I don't know. It's all a bit overwhelming and surreal."

"I know, dear child. I wish there was some way I could make this easier for you but...magic doesn't quite well work with emotions."

"I just...I wish she was here with me. To guide me."

"I wish so too. Esther had always been brave. Quite fierce too. I remember her in her childhood days; threw an enormous fit when she realised she failed history," Mr Blackwell said, shaking his head lightly.

I smiled. "Mom failed history? But she's so smart!"

"She was. She just hated history with a passion. You should've watched her in the Combat and Self-Defence classes. Everybody called her a tigress. They weren't wrong."

"What about my father? Did you know him? Was he a Guardian too?"

Mr Blackwell faltered a little. "I didn't know Esther's husband. He was a mortal. I did meet him once though, a jolly chap."

"Oh. Is that why we stayed...in the mortal world?" I asked.

"Um...it's certainly one of the reasons," he said, but his eyes were downcast. I knew he was hiding something.

I was about to speak again when suddenly, the door to the office slammed open. I jumped out of my sit and turned back to see an unfamiliar man rush inside. He looked to be in his thirties and had wild brown hair that seemed to stick out in all directions and his hazel eyes seemed to dart around. He vaguely reminded me of someone but I couldn't recall who.

"Patrick!" the man said, running inside.

"Mr Walker, what is it?" asked Mr Blackwell as he rose from his seat, cane in hand.

"I...we found..." the man panted.

"Take a moment to gather your breathe, Walker," Mr Blackwell advised. Mr Walker nodded and took deep gulps of breaths.

Finally, he said, "Patrick, believe it or not but we found another body, covered with those same darn symbols all over again."